BATHURST will square off with a familiar opponent when they line up for the semi-finals of the Western Zone Premier League on Sunday, but for once they will go into a contest against Parkes with an air of ascendancy.

Daniel Casey’s side will host Parkes at the Sportsground with a grand final spot on offer for the winner.

The last time the two teams met, a Jameel Qureshi hundred at Parkes led Bathurst to a ground-breaking SCG Cup win over the Lachlan-based powerhouse.

It was the first time they had defeated Parkes this decade.

Given Bathurst will be on home soil this time, there is no reason to suggest they can’t do it again.

However, Casey is already warning his side against complacency.

“I think we deserve to go in with a bit of confidence for sure, just knowing that we’ve beaten them already this season and we’re on our home ground this time around,” he said.

“But we still need to have a lot of respect for them. We can definitely afford to be confident, but not cocky. 

“They’ve been such a great side for so long, you have to give them that respect but still try to keep that same belief we built up from the last game that we can beat them.”

Bathurst will have some selection issues to contend with that could make their task a bit harder, with Josh Toole unavailable along with dependable all-rounder Shabbir Dhamani.

Toole was crucial to the SCG Cup win, making a half-century as he and Callum Hotham (50) backed up Qureshi’s heroics.

Dhamani is a go-to man for Casey with bat and ball though the return of Ben Orme does help cover his absence. The Bathurst City skipper is an important contributor and he picked up two wickets last time around.

The left-arm medium-pace of Jeremy Judge could be an option to cover the remaining gap.

“We haven’t settled on a final line-up yet but Judgey could be the one to come in if he’s available. We’ve got a very good bowling attack, but everyone bowls similar sort of stuff,” Casey said.

“Jeremy gives us a bit of variety with his left-arm over-the-wicket stuff and he can obviously bat as well. It looks like we might end up with Adam Ryan coming in at eight so that says everything for how strong our batting is.”

After a dream run of form that includes two unbeaten centuries for Bathurst, a 96 for the Blayney Bushrangers followed by a couple more half-centuries for his club, Qureshi looms as the key man for the hosts.

Casey said that his influence can’t be underestimated.

“There’s obviously a lot of pressure on him in the Blayney side, often their chances of winning hinge on him, but he’s shown that when it gets to district and representative cricket, the higher the level the better he plays,” the captain said.

“He had a rare failure in the game against Dubbo but that’s basically the only time he’s missed out all season. With the ball as well he’s a very solid contributor and a great player to have on your side.”

In the other semi-final the Blue Mountains will start as heavy underdogs against Dubbo in Dubbo.

Should Bathurst win this Sunday, they will more than likely have to break the last remaining hoodoo that shadows them within Western Zone senior cricket.

“It would be great to get a crack at Dubbo, hopefully here in Bathurst and then to beat them but that is a long way off and all we’re focused on is trying to beat Parkes, we can’t worry about anything else,” Casey concluded.

BATHURST (likely): Henry Shoemark, Joey Coughlan, Ben Orme, Jameel Qureshi, Andrew Best, Callum Hotham, Daniel Casey (c), Adam Ryan, Aaron Seymour, Jeremy Judge, Matt Stephens, Matt Fearnley.